Enabling Wireless Networking In Windows Server 2008

If you opened Network Connections page, you will notice that the Wireless Network Connection is disabled by default. Even if you have tried to right click it and Enable, it will remain disabled.

( To open the Network Connections page, click on Start > Network, click on the Network and Sharing Center button, then under Tasks, click on Manage Network Connections )

To enable Wireless Networking in Windows Server 2008, you have to install the Wireless LAN Service Feature

1. Open Server Manager, Click on Start > Server Manager , or Start > Administrative Tools > Server Manager
   
   
   
   
2. From the left side pane, click on Features
   
   
    
3. From the Features page, click on Add Features
   
   
   
   
4. From the list of available features, scroll down the list and enable the checkbox beside Wireless LAN Service, then click Next
   
   
   
   
5. On the Confirm Installation Selections page, click on Install
   
   
   
   Installation will start
   
   
   
   Once installation is completed, click on Close
   
   
   
   
6. Go back to the Network Connections page, and you will notice that the Wireless Network Connection's status has changed from Disabled to Not Connected ( If it didn't show as Not Connected, then right click on the Wireless Network Connection and click on Enable )
   
   
   
7. To connect to a Wireless Network, right click on the Wireless Network Connection and click on Connect/Disconnect
   
   
   
   
8. The list of available wireless connection(s) will be displayed. Choose any and click Connect. You might be requested to enter the shared key if any security settings are set on the Wireless Connection. Or you might need to setup the wireless connection manually, as some Wireless Networks hides their SSID.
   
   
   
   As you can see, Wireless Networking is enabled now on my laptop.
   
   
   

Summary

By default, Wireless Networking is disabled in Windows Server 2008. To enable it, you have to install its required Feature, which is called Wireless LAN Service.